The Future
by Akirina
Summary: Many years after Akabara is killed by the Black Swan, the vampires have learnt to survive on the moon. An attempt to resurrect Akabara and the death of someone has given rise to bitter feelings... And is someone trying to call up the Black Swan again?
1. Chapter 1

Two young boys round 8 years stood in a grand courtyard decorated with deep blue and violet hues, chatting to their teachers somewhat too casually. One of them with light blue hair glanced around every now and then, but to no avail as a loud laugh interrupted their moment with the teachers.

"Strauss, Morishima!" a little girl of around 6 came running towards the two boys and threw herself at the light blue haired one. He silently groaned inwardly as he tried to get the young blonde hair girl off him, "Aldeheid, you're not supposed to run around. Aren't you supposed to be studying?" he chided her as he set her on the ground. She refused to release his forearms and Strauss sighed as he gave up and allowed her to cling to him. "Studying is boring! Anyway, playing with you and Morishima is better than that. That is, unless you or Bridget agrees to teach me." The little girl said while casting a sly look at him.

"Aldeheid, don't run away from the maid next time! You worried her tremendously, do you know that?" another voice called out across the courtyard, disrupting their conversation again. Strauss and Morishima sighed, it seemed like an afternoon of studying was gone again. Another blonde haired girl around 7 came running across the courtyard, her slippers plit-platting across the whole length of it towards the trio. Strauss was relieved, at least Aldeheid wouldn't stick to him throughout the whole day, he thought as the older girl detached Aldeheid from him. "I want to play with Strauss!" was Aldeheid's next demand as the two boys made to leave them, and Strauss was almost stricken at the thought.

They made their way towards the Great Hall, as their parents had told them that an important guest was coming for lunch. However, they were late and the guest had retired to her rooms, "Who is it, Mother?" Aldeheid pestered her mother until the woman sighed and told them that it was the daughter of the Heizerbergs that had come back from a recent visit to Earth. "Why are they visiting Earth?" Bridget inquired curiously, a visit to Earth was considered strange since they didn't go back there. The Moon was comfortable enough because the Queen Aldeheid made the surface smooth with her Corrosive Moonlight and sacrificed herself at that moment. That was the story, but Strauss, Morishima, herself and Stella always thought different. "The Heizerbergs… I didn't know that they had a daughter." Strauss said suddenly, frowning in concentration; if the Heizerbergs really had one that girl would be his fiancée since the Strauss and Heizerberg families were leading families for the Crown place in the Moonlight Kingdom.

"You haven't heard of her? But you always play with her… Oh! I made a mistake, it's the Hirasakas. I'm sorry; it's so easy to mix them up…" Aldeheid's mother said sheepishly after she caught Strauss's frown and Bridget's sharp gaze. "By Hirasaka, you mean Stella? Stella's back? That's great! Strauss, come and help me find her!" Aldeheid cried, grabbing Strauss's hand and dragging him off. Bridget hurried to catch up with her sister and Morishima shrugged his shoulders before following the leading two. Aldeheid scampered around asking servants for the way to Stella's room until one of them showed her the way there. She was in, luckily for Aldeheid and was studying a large pile of books. Aldeheid squealed and ran towards the girl, throwing herself at her and knocking Stella to the ground. Stella was surprised to see Aldeheid, she managed to get Aldeheid off her and get to her feet with the help of Strauss. Aldeheid started throwing questions at her, "You came back, Stella! When did you return? How is the place, Earth?"

"I returned today, at the first light of dawn. Yes, I came back, Aldeheid. You didn't think that I would stay there forever, did you?" the 8 year-old vampire replied with an amused tone as she answered her little cousin's questions. "It's a nice place, the people there are caring and very… protective." She continued with a tight smile as she stroked Aldeheid's rumpled golden hair. Then she looked up and scrutinized the other vampires standing there, Strauss looked the same with his light blue hair and reddish eyes, Morishima with his black hair and sea green eyes, Bridget with her blonde hair and blue eyes and Aldeheid with her golden hair and blue eyes. Bridget and Aldeheid were sisters, so it was not unusual for them to look alike.

"Where were you going before Aldeheid interrupted you?" she asked casually, knowing Aldeheid's knack of disrupting other people and drawing them to play with her. Strauss said that he was going to study with Morishima, but Aldeheid wanted to come along and Bridget had to follow as she was taking care of her younger sister. "You're not going anywhere, right, Stella? Then follow us to the study!" Aldeheid chirped as she beamed up at the other vampire. She almost objected the little girl but when she saw the pleading expression in the other vampires' eyes, she deliberated. "Well, I've got quite a load to study…" she told them. Strauss's expression escalated to one of disbelief, horror and desperation as Bridget's expression fell. Morishima's was one of a resigned person to his fate. Aldeheid's was almost filled with tears as she tried the puppy dog eyes on Stella, it would never work on her Onee-chan, not that she would know.

"I guess I could come… with exceptions to you, little Aldeheid." Yuki said with a laugh as she poked the said on her little nose. The little girl squealed and pulled away to run behind Bridget. Then Stella straightened up and hefted the pile of books up, "Come on, let's go to the study room." She said, after all, she could take a break from studying, right?

Her eyes widened as they entered the study, it had expanded while she was away… and it had also accommodated a musky, woody smell accompanied by a messy outlook. "What have you been doing to the poor room?" she asked in horror as she saw the vandalized table and toys strewn over the whole place. Strauss and Morishima smiled sheepishly at her and proceeded to put their things down. "Those look heavy, Stella. Why don't you put them down?" Morishima ventured timidly, not sure of how to approach their childhood friend after she left to study on the planet, Earth.

She threw him a smile as she dumped the books onto a clean area on the couch and sat on it, pulling Bridget to seat next to her and Aldeheid onto her lap at the same time. "Tell me what I've missed." She commanded and listened as they told her of their years' performance, she sat there enjoying their tales until Strauss broke through her moment of bliss and asked her about her journey to Earth. The other three fell silent at his question and all of them stared at her, Stella kept her eyes covered with her bangs and after a long pause when Strauss started to regret asking the question, she told them, "I'm not sure how I should answer your question, Rosered. The stay there was pleasant enough and their place is more luxurious than here on the Moon. The man there-- GM Gozen is a friendly man, he's very courteous." She told them even though her tone said otherwise.

The afternoon passed uneventfully and when the younger ones went to change clothes with Morishima following, Strauss and Stella stayed back in the room. "What is it that you need from me?" Strauss questioned, he knew that what Stella said probably wasn't going to be good news. It had always been like that, when she used his full name in front of others, it had meant that she wanted to talk to him about something when she was free --- as soon as possible.

"…I'm not supposed to tell you this… but all the same…" She said to him and his body tensed up. "What do you mean? What has he done? Tell me, Stella, I have the right to know!" he said persistently when she shook her head. "Earth is not a bad place. It's the people there that are intolerable. It's not the wisest plan to go there." Then she changed the subject abruptly, asking him about his studies and where he had studied until, she revealed that she had studied about the area and perimeters, and he scoffed. It was an easy chapter, that one, he thought. But she proved him wrong when she told him she meant the chapter after the chapter of polygons. He blanched visibly and choked out, "You're joking! That's the secondary syllables!" When he questioned her further, he realized that her standard was that of a secondary school student and that he was being left behind. He was still studying algebra—the primary school standard one.

When the younger ones returned, they found Strauss and Stella in a pleasantly fine mood as they were talking about the studies of science and so on. The dinner proceeded smoothly, but when the King, Gottfried Strauss stood up and toasted the project on Earth being successful due to Stella's fine development, Strauss found it unnatural. He pestered his father, wanting more details about what was happening when Gottfried kneeled down and griped his son by the shoulders. "I'm sorry, Rosered. I'm afraid Stella will not be coming back to the Moon again." He told Strauss the despairing news. Even though Strauss didn't belief it, it was true and Stella never returned to them ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

Akirina: I'm sorry for the 2 year hiatus... and yes, this is a reincarnation fic... This actually occurs a couple of centuries after the mangaka ends.

Chapter 2

Twelve years later…

The door slammed open with a bang and Strauss looked up to see his cousin, Bridget enter the room.

"Strauss, your father requests for your presence." She told him stiffly. Strauss blinked at her stiff tone and stood up from the desk where he had been going over reports from his Generals.

"Did he mention the reason why he wanted to see me?" Strauss asked curiously.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he did." Bridget replied crossly.

Strauss waited a few moments as he trailed behind Bridget. Then he prompted, "Well? Why does my father require my presence?"

"Oh, Strauss." Bridget spun around, a look of anger on her face. "Do you know that your father is planning to send you to Earth? He wants to send you to Earth so that you can be properly 'educated', even though Stella disappeared to Earth years ago."

"Is that so." Strauss frowned. "What worries me is why he would want to send me to Earth now. Stella was a good representative, so why did she become a sacrifice?"

"Sacrifice?" Bridget snorted. "That's a good term. Do you know that I found some files on Stella's trip to Earth and I received a pleasant surprise when I discovered that Stella's real surname isn't Hirasaka, but Heizerberg."

"Heizerberg? Then she's—" Strauss broke off in surprise.

"Yes. She's the princess of the royal family. And also your betrothed. Just that your father had to send her to Earth because of some man called GM Gozen who wants a pure blood princess under his control—or rather, as hostage—to make sure that we will not attack the humans." Bridget told him.

"But how do they still know about us? I thought we destroyed all rumors of our existence centuries ago…" Strauss said.

"Apparently there's one small percentage of humans that still know about us. And that small percentage is under the control of GM Gozen. He was also the first to attempt communication with us." Bridget answered.

"Have you discovered the reason why he wants me to go to Earth?" Strauss asked, his mind working quickly to figure out his situation.

"Yes. Apparently, he still does not feel secure enough with one pure blood, even though he has brain-washed her. So you will be going to Earth to stay there with Stella until he deems it safe enough to allow you to come back." Bridget answered. "I don't understand why we can't just kill him and his followers."

"It's probably because he threatened to tell the whole of mankind about our existence if we killed him. He'd have some kind of lawyer open the files he has on us and distribute them among the humans. And then we'd have to face another war." Strauss explained before nodding quickly. "It's a good idea for Father to send me to Earth."

"What?" Bridget spluttered. "Don't tell me you agree with this, Strauss. They're using you!"

"I'm the soon-to-be King, Bridget. I know why they're sending me there and I'll admit, it's the best they can do. Father can handle with being King for a little longer. And they're probably expecting me to bring Stella back, too." Strauss told her, starting to walk to his father's study. "Inform Laetitia that I will need to have my clothes packed in a bag. Prepare for at least a few months' worth of supplies."

"But—"

"Just go, Bridget. I know how to handle the situation." Strauss told her and disappeared into the hallway, leaving the younger vampire staring after him.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"Kayuki."

Kayuki—or as she would rather be known, Yuki— turned around at her name. She found herself staring at her surrogate wheelchair-bound grandfather, GM Gozen.

"Yes, grandfather?" She asked, her voice emotionless and professional. Yuki praised herself at being able to bear the dark gaze of her grandfather. It wasn't that she hated him, but she didn't trust him. Not since he had refused to tell her the truth about her past—something that she knew he had a hand in from all the conversations he had with his contacts that she had eavesdropped on.

"We have a guest coming tonight. Make yourself presentable." GM Gozen ordered. Yuki nodded.

"Is he from Europe? Or Asia?" She asked briskly.

GM Gozen stared at her for a moment before he replied, "He's from nowhere, but the moon."

Yuki barely managed to contain the 'huh?' that threatened to slip out from her mouth. "Excuse me?" she forced herself to ask sophisticatedly.

GM Gozen turned his gaze away from her. "Wear anything that you like. But make sure that it looks good on you. I won't want you to make a bad impression on our guest. He'll be staying here for a quite a while."

Yuki nodded and turned away to her room, her mind puzzling over what her grandfather had said and wondering about what she would wear.

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

"Ah, Prince Rosered. It's an honor to meet you." GM Gozen welcomed his 'guest', who was actually more of his prisoner.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too." Strauss returned, his eyes studying the crippled old man in front of him. His white hair told Strauss that this man probably did not have very long left, but his grey eyes shone with determination and malice, a terrible combination.

"Ah, Kayuki, come over here. Prince Rosered, let me introduce you to Kayuki, my granddaughter." GM Gozen waved Kayuki over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Kayuki, this is Prince Rosered Strauss, who will be staying with us for some time."

"It's nice to meet you." Kayuki bowed, refraining from shaking hands with Strauss. Strauss echoed the greetings half-heartedly, his attention fixed upon the girl who had the same features as Stella Hirasaka Heizerberg. Was this really Stella, though? Strauss thought. She seemed… different.

She was dressed in a simple kimono which was a contrast against her grandfather's stiff Western suit. (Strauss had studied human culture) Her hair was pulled into twin ponytails and she fingered a mask in her hands.

"Prince Rosered, let us retreat to the dining room for a meal before we retire to bed, shall we?" GM Gozen asked him kindly, interrupting Strauss's thoughts. "Unless you want to retire first? I understand that the journey has been tiring…"

"No, not at all." Strauss replied with a smile. "It'd be nice to have a meal now. I need a meal after all that travelling."

"Of course." GM Gozen said. "This way, please." He guided Strauss to the dining room and asked, "Do you have any… preferences?"

"Hm? No." Strauss replied, still absorbed in his thoughts about GM Gozen and Stella. Just what was the man up to? What motive did he have? What was he planning with two pure blood vampires in his hands? How powerful was he?

"Well, then, dinner will be a steak served with potatoes and salad." GM Gozen announcing, smiling at the prince. "Then for dessert, some strawberry shortcake."

"As you say." Strauss inclined his head respectfully.

"Now, tell me, how is your father doing? It has been some time since he contacted me and I have missed out in the time we stopped communicating…"

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

Rosered Strauss was an enigma, Yuki decided. She had never seen a person— in her entire life— that was not under at least a little control of her grandfather. Clearly, the powerful, wise old man sitting in front of him; even though he seemed to be around twenty himself, did not intimidate him. His pale blue hair and red eyes seemed familiar to Yuki, although she could not put a finger on where she had seen him before.

He was confident enough to reject her grandfather's attempts to set a bodyguard on him—something that Yuki knew would restrict his movements. So this 'prince from nowhere' had power and influence—enough for her grandfather to tread carefully around him.

Yuki sighed as she sat on the step of the house and watched the shadows embrace the weak moonlight shining through the window. She could not get rid of the image of Rosered Strauss in her mind. Who was he, really? Where was he from? Why did her grandfather say that he was from the moon? Why did he keep throwing her strange looks throughout their dinner? What was it about her that had gained his attention? It was true that all of her grandfather's associates had barely spared her a glance, thus allowing Yuki to access them properly without feeling any pressure. But the attention that Rosered Strauss had spared her made her feel nervous, on edge and… excited.

But that was ridiculous. Why should she feel excited? It was almost as if…

"Almost as if I knew him in a past life…" Yuki spoke aloud to herself as realization hit her. Surely he had known her from some past life—that was why he kept casting her those strange looks!

Yuki stood up, almost determined to find Strauss and ask him about her suspicions when she realized that it was night and he most likely had fallen asleep. She sighed dejectedly again.

"What's wrong?"

Yuki jerked her head up in surprise. Standing at the top of the staircase was the subject of her thoughts: Rosered Strauss. How had he managed to get there without her noticing? There was a spot on the landing where he was standing that would creak if anyone stepped on it with the lightest pressure.

"You know me." It was not a question, Strauss seemed to know that and he nodded.

"Yes, I knew you. We grew up together." Strauss told her and watched Yuki's face change to one of surprise and shock. It wasn't the response she had been expecting. She had thought that he had only recognized her through some small accident.

"Are you really from the moon?" the question that had been nagging at her mind slipped out before Yuki could stop herself. Strauss blinked at her in surprise and Yuki flushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know what came over me—"

"Who told you that?" Strauss cut her off. "Who told you I came from the moon?"

"My grandfather." Yuki replied honestly. "I'm sorry—" she tried to apologize again but Strauss interrupted her again.

"He's right, you know." Strauss said quietly. Yuki stared at him, shocked into speechlessness. It took her a moment for her to regain her wits.

"What?" she asked incredulously.


	3. Chapter 3

Akirina: Well... I'm back again! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

Strauss laughed a little at her shocked expression. "But it's not possible for anyone to live on the moon!" Yuki protested weakly, still staring at Strauss. "And if you say you live there, then that means that I…"

"Yes, you lived on the moon, too." Strauss replied with a straight face, although a smile threatened to ruin his serious face. "Here, this might help you to understand what I'm saying." Strauss tossed her a black-bound notebook. It was a notebook from their ancestors, written by Bridget from the past. It documented how the Night Kingdom was formed on the moon and what happened for it to form.

"Bridget Irving Frostheart?" Yuki read aloud. "Who is she?"

"One of our ancestors." Strauss told her. "Back in the past, there was a period of time when the Kingdom fell apart because of series of events that revolved around my ancestor, Akabara Strauss, who was the King then."

"What happened?" Yuki couldn't help herself but ask curiously.

"He died." Strauss said. "Even though the accurate details weren't recorded in the book, but there were tales of how Queen Adelheid used her powers to clear the land on the moon for us to take up residence and King Akabara sacrificed himself so that we could live on the moon in relative peace."

"Huh." Yuki flipped through the book, not entirely trusting Strauss. "Well, if you say so." She turned to leave and Strauss called after her.

"Even if you don't believe me, there'll be one day where something happens that will undermine what you believe."

Yuki didn't turn around as she walked away, but she frowned to herself when she heard Strauss's words.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^

"Ah, Prince Rosered." Strauss blinked, drawn from his thoughts again. GM Gozen directed his wheelchair to roll out of his study and into the hallway where Strauss was. He asked, "Have you talked to Kayuki?"

"Yes, I managed to talk to her yesterday as we were heading to our rooms. Is there a problem?" Strauss asked politely, studying GM Gozen carefully.

"No, no." Gozen replied, "It's just that Kayuki is a shy child and I just wondered…"

Was he really concerned for Kayuki's wellbeing? Strauss wondered. There was something that the Gozen was keeping from him—the strange questions he was asking…

GM studied Strauss for a few moments before he sighed. "You're a smart man, Prince Rosered. I consider Kayuki as my granddaughter, although she might think otherwise. And it is because I feel some sense of kinship to her that I will tell you this: even though it may seem that I am the antagonist, it is the protagonists that are truly manipulating the events."

"What do you mean by 'manipulating the events'?" Strauss asked sharply.

GM smiled grimly. "Look at your nobles and look at what they have been doing for the last four hundred years." He replied cryptically. "I'm sure you'll find some traces of suspicious activity regarding the manipulation of the soul. After all, it was them who caught the spirits of the ancestors."

Strauss narrowed his red eyes and nodded, knowing that any more would be an abuse of his host's hospitality. But he needed to know… "Is that why my father sent me here to talk with you about 'certain matters'?"

"Hm, Gottfried told you, did he? Well, to answer your question, you're here to discover about those 'certain matters'. I am only here to provide a cover so that no one will be able to get to you." GM replied.

"So that the nobles won't find out about me. A brilliant idea. Why did you agree to my father's suggestions?" Strauss asked.

"How do you know that it wasn't me?" GM asked back.

"Only my father would meddle in such matters. If it were you, you wouldn't have 'demanded' Stella as hostage."

"Very good." GM breathed. "Yes, it was your father." He remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought before he continued. "As for me agreeing to your father's suggestions… well, I saw the merit in his plans and I agreed that it would be better if we didn't know about them at all. However, the nobles had other ideas which led to today's situation: Gottfried sending you, the soon-to-be King to me so that you could find out what was happening without the nobles noticing."

"Is it really that bad?" Strauss asked quietly. "Or is the nobles' reactions overblown?"

GM laughed in response. "What do you think?" he chuckled.

Strauss smiled. It seemed as if there was a challenge ahead for him.

"Oh, by the way," GM seemed to remember something. "About Kayuki— Well, yes, she _is_ Stella Heizerberg—don't pressure her too much, Prince. At this moment, she probably isn't up to any undue stress from anyone."

Strauss frowned. "May I ask why?"

"She's a human." GM answered.

Strauss waited. Then sighed, "And?"

GM smiled at his actions, but his eyes were serious. "She's a _pureblood vampire _in a _human body. _She isn't very stable right now. I won't know what would happen if she gets mentally unstable... It would be a disaster if her she got upset. I won't go into the details."

Strauss's frown disappeared at he looked at GM with a blank face. "Of course, I will watch my words around her."

"And your actions." GM prompted.

"Yes, and my actions."

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

Yuki scowled at the black-covered notebook lying innocently on the table of her room. She had spent the whole night reading the book, curious and unwilling to believe that anyone could live on the moon. How was it possible, anyway? There had been several excursions to the moon by her grandfather and he had declared that there were no beings living on it, yet it was impossible to live on because of frigid conditions and no atmosphere.

She was determined to put Strauss down as a liar. But she had hesitated to, because somewhere in her mind, there was a tiny voice that said that Strauss was telling the truth and it was someone else who was the 'bad guy'. Was this the part of her that knew Strauss from the time that they were friends? Or was she just imagining it?

"Well, have you read it?" Yuki turned around to see Strauss leaning the frame of her open door. When had he opened her door? She knew that her door had the tendency to squeak as it had not been oiled for some time…

"Yes." Yuki replied. "But what is written in this book—it's impossible! There is no one who could use those sort of powers stated! There is no such thing as a Moonlight of Corrosion—it' just make up!" Yuki protested.

"Kayuki—" Strauss started, but Yuki broke him off.

"Call me Yuki. I don't like to go by the name Kayuki." She told him briskly.

Strauss blinked, staring at her for a moment before shaking his head and continuing. "Yuki, do you believe in vampires?"

Yuki squinted at him. "… Is this some kind of hoax?" she asked him in disbelief. "There are no such things as vampires, despite what grandfather may claim."

"Well, actually, there are. And I'm a vampire."

Yuki just stared at him.

"I know you may not believe me, but it is true. Here, I can even show you evidence." Strauss showed her his fangs. "We don't need to survive on human blood even though it may taste good. Animal blood is what we take when we need our daily meals and human blood is counted as a luxury item." Strauss hurried to explain.

Yuki continued to stare at him until she could collect her wits again.

"You're kidding," she said. "There's no such thing—" Then she broke off, staring at him in horror again as something occurred to her.

"What is it?" Strauss asked in concern.

"Are you trying to tell me that I am a vampire?" Yuki screeched.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

Strauss sighed as he settled down on his bed. It had been a hassle to get Stella—now Yuki—to believe him that she had been a vampire. It wasn't as if Strauss could give her any solid evidence, so he had sent a message to Adelheid and Bridget, requesting one of them to come over and bring files of information on the nobles of the Kingdom. He had to find out what was it that GM Gozen could not tell him directly.

He missed having Morishima's sharp mind with him. At least with his other cousin, he would have a better chance at figuring out the truth. And he wished that Stella could regain her memories so that he could question her about what was going on.

Alas, he could only hope that one of his cousins could come over; preferably, Bridget, although he knew that she was the eldest of the two sisters and had to deal with the state matters. So it would most likely be Adelheid who was coming over.

And in the meantime, while he was waiting for them… Well, he'd try to convince Yuki that she was Stella Heizerberg and that she was a vampire.

Strauss sighed again. This was going to be a particularly difficult 'challenge'.


	4. Chapter 4

Akirina: Ok... so the time lapse in chapter 2 is actually twelve years...

Chapter 4

"Bridget! There's a letter from Strauss!" Adelheid, a vampire of seventeen years jumped up and down excitedly. Her sister glanced up and exchanged looks with her cousin, Merill Morishima before jumping up and hurrying towards Adelheid with Morishima right behind her.

"Adelheid, bring that over now." Bridget knew that she sounded cross, but she was impatient to hear the news from her cousin. The five of them—Strauss, Morishima, Stella, Adelheid and her—had been close to each other ever since they were young as they were born only a few years apart.

Adelheid was quick to obey and walked over to her sister with a letter-opener in her hand. Bridget cast it a glance before she used her sharp nail to open the letter. Unlike most of the vampires who had opted to cut their nails so that it would not hinder them in other matters, Bridget had delighted in keeping her nails long, then painting them different them different colours with colour extracts from the rocks on the moon.

Bridget quickly unfolded the letter and read it to her cousin and sibling.

"Dear Adelheid, Bridget and Morishima,

I hope this finds you quickly. Apparently, matters aren't what as they seem. I need Adelheid to come down to Earth with all the information you can gather on what the vampire nobles have been doing for the last four hundred years. Morishima, I need you to prepare for a war. It appears that the nobles have been up to something. Bridget, tell my father that I understand his decision and I will try my best. I do not gurantee that everyone will make it out alive.

This is urgent. Do not tell anyone of what I have told you.

Rosered Strauss" Bridget stopped to exchange looks with Morishima once again.

"This is bad." He said, his eyes scanning over the message once again. "But it's even better than what I thought. At least it isn't some complex hoax to try and trick Strauss into killing himself."

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Bridget murmured, wringing her hands. "Something feels wrong. I wish I could go down with Adelheid and sort things out."

"Me too. But we have duties here to attend to." Morishima pointed out. "The least we could do is to send Adelheid down to help him." He turned to Adelheid. "Adelheid, we'll prepare everything for you to go to Earth, so go pack your stuff now."

She nodded her head and flew up the stairs to her room quickly, understanding the importance of her mission.

"We need to pull a few strings, then. Better start now." Bridget stood up too and headed to the table to call her contacts.

"Sister!" Adelheid popped her head over the side of the banister, having just remembered something.

"Yes?" Bridget positioned her finger over the call button.

"Should I bring that pendant over to Strauss and have him take a look?" Adelheid asked.

"Oh, that." Bridget nodded. "Yeah, sure, why not? It may belong to him. Or Stella."

"Alright." Adelheid disappeared upstairs again.

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

"See, even your grandfather supports me," Strauss argued with Yuki. "Surely you must believe in him?"

"I don't believe in my grandfather. In fact, I don't trust anyone living in this house." Yuki rebutted him immediately. "Everyone of them lies. Including grandfather. And you." She eyed Strauss warily. "There must have been, at some point, where you lied to me."

"Good point. But I was your good friend, so why would I feel the need to lie to you?" Strauss acknowledged.

"Because there might be a specific incident that made me dislike you in the past that I do not know about." Yuki shot back before throwing a glance about to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation. She leaned in to Strauss and whispered, "Watch yourself about grandfather. He also has a habit of double-crossing someone."

Strauss blew out his breath carefully, considering her advice. "And how would you know about that?"

Yuki threw him a sharp glance before she turned away, replying, "Eavesdropping. They say that knowledge is power. And it is."

Strauss laughed softly. "Eavesdropping? What bad manners." He teased Yuki gently. "And? Has it helped you in any instance?"

Yuki turned to him with an irritated face. "It taught me that a knife can cut both ways." She answered sharply. "And this knowledge has helped me to avoid any… traps that grandfather has planted."

Strauss chuckled. "It seems that you aren't as unstable as he says."

Yuki threw him a surprised look. "Did he? Well, that was only for appearances' sake." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "But you must be a very sharp person, then."

"Why?" Strauss asked curiously.

"Because grandfather only tells that to people who are capable of figuring out his real character." Yuki replied cryptically. Then she smiled and said, "No, I'm not telling you anything about what grandfather has been doing these years while I've been staying with him."

Strauss sighed. "You read me well."

"It's a matter of knowing you for so long. It's almost as if I know what you're thinking the instant you think it." The words slipped out of Yuki's mouth before she knew what she was talking about. She blinked and found Strauss staring at her.

"Stella?" he whispered, his gaze filled with hope.

Yuki shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't know who Stella is."

"Oh," Strauss sighed, looking away. Yuki studied him for a few moments before she spoke.

"You love her, don't you?"

"Huh?" Strauss turned his face back to her.

"You love Stella." It wasn't a question. Yuki knew that Strauss loved her, simply by just observing him whenever he spoke about Stella.

Strauss opened his mouth to reject what she said, but found that he couldn't say anything to the girl was Stella, yet not her. He closed his mouth. Then nodded.

Yuki smiled triumphantly. "Ah ha, it seems as if the Great Prince Rosered has his own weak points." She gloated.

Strauss flushed, and retorted, "And that crush would be you, seeing as you are Stella."

He succeeded in surprising her with that retort. Yuki had never thought of Stella as her. She never considered the possibility that she was Stella, in the past. After all, if she were to believe that, she would have to take Strauss's word that she came from the moon, like him. And she was reluctant to admit that. It was sort of like, she did not want to admit defeat to him. But Strauss's words had a ring of truth about them and she could not dismiss his words that quickly.

"Well, you have a point." Yuki finally conceded, surprising Strauss.

"You're admitting that what I say is correct?" he asked in surprise.

"No!" Yuki shook her head. "I'm saying that you _may be _correct. But I have yet to see evidence that you are from the moon, thus I cannot agree with your version of the truth."

"Version of the truth?" Strauss enquired. "Who has been telling you lies about your past?"

"They may not be lies." Yuki snapped at him, irritated. "They say that I was the Black Swan and my destiny was to destroy the King of some evil race."

"Really? That's interesting." Strauss became serious. "And who told you that?"

"Some guy with blue hair and grey eyes." Yuki flippantly replied, sipping at her tea.

"Blue hair and grey eyes… Unusual combination…" Strauss murmured to himself. And it fitted the description of one of the nobles of the Kingdom.

A knock at the door distracted the two occupants from the conversation. "What is it?" Yuki called out, fixing her attention on the messenger beyond the door.

"Lady Adelheid Irving has arrived, Prince Rosered, Mistress. My Lord commanded me to inform you of her arrival and he asks that Prince Rosered hasten to the sitting room where he may meet her and have a meal with him and the lady."

Yuki looked to Strauss. "Well, you'd better go."

Strauss nodded and left immediately. Yuki couldn't help but noticed that he looked a little nervous.

I wonder what it is… She thought.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"Your Highness," Adelheid stood up and curtseyed with Strauss entered the room. He sighed inwardly, remembering that they were in the public and that their actions were being observed by humans who were under the control of vampires.

"Lady Adelheid, cousin, it has been so long since we met." Strauss replied as he nodded at her. "Was it my father who sent you to me?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Adelheid nodded. "He wanted me to hand you a few of your texts that you will be studying while away from home. He has also ordered me to stay with you for the duration of your stay, to ensure that you are behaving properly."

"I see." Strauss nodded before he turned to GM. "I trust Adelheid has introduced herself to you?" he asked, taking note of the manipulative gleam in the other's eyes. It seems that Yuki was right about her grandfather being untrustworthy.

"She has introduced herself to me," GM replied, "Come, let's have a meal before we retire and leave you two to catch up on what has been happening at home."

The meal went smoothly and they conversed about Strauss's stay on Earth. As they started on dessert, GM raised the matter of bodyguards.

"I assume the lady would need bodyguards just in case something happens?" GM asked, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Ah, Lady Adelheid is perfectly capable of taking care of herself." Strauss replied. "She won't need any bodyguards."

"I beg to differ, Prince Rosered." GM retorted before turning to Adelheid with a sickly sweet smile. "My Lady?"

He had been expecting her to fall into his trap. "No, I'm afraid I can protect myself against any strangers or masked assassins." Adelheid replied smoothly. "But thank you for your concern, GM Gozen."

GM's face twisted slightly with anger before it disappeared, but Strauss could see the anger lurking beneath the surface. "As you wish." He replied, with a slightly bitter tone.

"Thank you, Gozen. Now, I wish to talk to my cousin about his stay on Earth…" Adelheid started.

GM nodded his head, "You may take this to your rooms." He told her. "Just make sure that you are in bed before lights out."

"Lights…out?" Adelheid was unfamiliar with the term.

"It is the time we switch off all electricity appliances to conserve energy, my lady. Lights out is usually at 2130." GM explained. "But we'll allow an exception for tonight, since you will be talking to Prince Rosered, so lights out will be at 2300."

"Of course. Thank you for your kindness, Gozen." Adelheid nodded to him before turning to Strauss. "Your Highness?"

Strauss nodded and stood up from the table. "If you'll excuse us, Gozen." The two bowed to their hosts and left the room.

Adelheid was smart enough to wait until they had reached Strauss's rooms before she released all her enthusiasm that she had kept bottled up ever since they met in the sitting room.

"Strauss!" She squealed happily reaching to hug her cousin. "I've missed you so much!"

"It's only been two weeks, Adelheid." Strauss smiled at his cousin's words and gently removed her hands from around his neck.

"Well…" Adelheid pouted. "Anyway, I have the files that you requested for. Sister and Morishima sent letters over to you, too."

"Is that so." Strauss smiled wryly. "I expect that I'll find many reprimanding remarks from them."

Adelheid grinned. "Sister made a new list of insults especially for you." She informed him gleefully.

Strauss winced. "Bridget was always vindictive in her use of vocabulary." He murmured to himself. "Well? The letters?"

"Oh! Here they are!" Adelheid pulled the two letters out of her pocket and handed them to him. "The files are in my luggage, I'll get them for you now."

Strauss nodded distractedly, having already opened the letter and was now scanning through the contents of the letter. He was halfway through the letter (he had skipped the first page) when a knock at the door interrupted him.

Expecting it to be Aldeheid, Strauss called out, "Come in."

Instead, it was Yuki. She poked her pink head around the side of the door and asked, "Are you busy?"

"Um," Strauss said. "Actually, I was waiting for my cousin, Aldeheid to come back… Why don't you come in and take a sit? I want you to meet her."

"Your cousin?" Yuki moved into his room. "Sure, I'd love to meet her."

Strauss nodded and turned his attention back to his letters. He finished Bridget's letter and moved on to Morishima's. He was lucky that Morishima, his other cousin and Bridget's boyfriend, did not like to swear much like his girlfriend. His letter was short and straight to the point. Strauss smiled in appreciation at his cousin's parting words. _'Don't mind Bridget. She's a little irritated at you right now.' _That was a serious understatement, if Morishima had any idea what that meant.

"Good news from home?" Yuki broke the silence, seeing that he had finished reading the letter and was folding them away.

"Some." Strauss agreed. "Although one of my cousins is mad at me."

"What for?" Yuki asked curiously.

"She says that I write too little." Strauss laughed. "Can you believe that? I send that letter home and she says I write too little and sends me a letter filled with her ranting."

Yuki smiled. "But she's family. She's worried for you. It's natural that she would want to hear more from you."

"I suppose so." Strauss shrugged his shoulders. "It may be that way if the situation was less serious."

"Strauss!"Adelheid burst into the room. "I just remembered, I found this pendant—" She stopped and gaped at Yuki in astonishment. Yuki shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Adelheid, this is Kayuki, the surrogate granddaughter of GM Gozen. She prefers to be known as Yuki." Strauss introduced.

"Stella." Adelheid whispered before running to Yuki and flinging her arms around Yuki and hugging her tightly. "Strauss, it's Stella! Can't you see it's Stella?" She sobbed into Yuki's hair.

Yuki cast a desperate look at Strauss, who mouthed, 'just comfort her' at her. She sighed inwardly and lifted her arms to pat Adelheid on the back, hoping that this would be over soon. She did not have the experience of comforting somebody.

She searched for something to say and the words slipped out of her mouth before she knew it. "There, there, Aldeheid. Stop crying or I won't study with you next time."

Aldeheid pulled back and stared at her. "Stella? It's really you?" Strauss also stared at her from where he was sitting.

"Of course—No! I'm not Stella! Get that thing away from me!" Yuki clutched her head and pushed Aldeheid away from her. Strauss caught Aldeheid as she stumbled away from Yuki.

"Are you alright, Yuki?" Strauss asked in concern as he pushed Aldeheid into a chair. The girl looked at Yuki, stunned by her actions.

"It hurts…" she replied. "My head hurts…"

Strauss frowned. Her behavior earlier… Was it due to Aldeheid? No, she had shown no sign of recognition when she saw Aldeheid… Maybe something that Aldeheid was holding?

Strauss turned to Aldeheid. "Aldeheid, open your hands." He commanded. Aldeheid obeyed, placing the files that she had been holding onto the table. Strauss barely spared the folders a glance, but what she held in her left hand caught his attention. It was a dark blue pendant with a piece of red metal twined around it to form a moon and several creepers with leaves on them. Strauss took it from her and moved to stand in front of Yuki.

"Yuki," he commanded and the girl looked to him. "I want you to look at this and tell me what you see."

He held up and Yuki took one look at it before she screamed. Strauss leapt forward, dropping the pendant to the ground. "Yuki!" he cried, holding the limp girl in his arms.

Yuki whimpered, stirring. "Yuki." Strauss called her name again and Kayuki opened her eyes. She looked around the room and whispered, "I remember everything, Strauss. You can call me Stella."

"Stella?" Adelheid whispered from where she was. Stella looked at Adelheid and smiled weakly at her. "Yes, Adelheid?"

"What happened?" Strauss demanded.

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

"They are in the Prince's room. I want you to get rid of the girl." GM ordered the assassins. "And I don't want you to kill the Prince."

"Yes, my lord." The assassins scattered into the house to carry out their job.

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

"I warned you be careful of GM." Stella told Strauss. "He is not to be trusted. And there is people approaching."

"It's probably to check on us because of your screaming." Adelheid suggested.

"No." Stella shook her head. "It's most likely assassins. They're after Adelheid."

"What?" Strauss asked, looking up from the table, where he had moved to after laying Stella down on his bed to rest. He held the folders that Adelheid had brought for him.

"You heard me. They're after Adelheid. She made GM unhappy and he is angry that she refused the bodyguard, so he sent the assassins after her. It happens every time, you know." Stella told them. "There is always someone who 'defies' him. Adelheid, you had better hide in the closet. It's the only place that does not have a peeking hole."

Adelheid obeyed and Strauss asked, "Tell me, what exactly is going on around here and in the Night Kingdom?"

"The nobles resurrected Akabara."

"What? How?" Strauss asked, shocked.

"I don't know how they managed it. From what I heard, they discovered a ritual book in Carius' house. It states everything about resurrection and all those stuff. They decided to resurrect Akabara because they wanted to conquer Earth." Stella said. "Unfortunately, their plan went awry and they ended up resurrecting four other vampires, dhampires and I heard there was one human."

"And what happened?" Strauss asked, looking at her sharply.

"They thought their experiment failed until nineteen years back, Akabara's soul was born." Stella continued. "It was you, Strauss."

Strauss stared at her in shock and horror.

Stella pursed her lips and continued. "Then, Morishima was next. Followed by me, Bridget and lastly, Adelheid."

"What… And what part do you play in this? I know from the tales that Morishima was a human general that helped in the fighting against the invaders and Bridget and Adelheid were vampires. But you?" Strauss asked.

Stella smiled bitterly. "I was Stella Heizerberg. In this age, my real name is Kayuki Heizerberg, although I'd rather go by Yuki or Stella. Back then, Stella was the catalyst for the Black Swan Curse. But in the process a part of her soul was split off and it was reborn again and again in the following carriers of the Black Swan. In the 50th Black Swan, Kayuki Hirasaka found out the truth about the Black Swan. It was then that the Black Swan ended because she killed Akabara."

Strauss stared at her, shocked.

"After they found out that I was the Black Swan, they decided to use me to try to recall the Black Swan. But they've failed, so far. All they've managed to do is make a swan mark appear on my arm." She raised her forearm to reveal the mark on her wrist and three bold bands.

"That's absurd!" Strauss burst out. "This is preposterous! How dare they call my soul back—" Strauss paced the room angrily for a while. "It's completely against the natural rules. What do you think, Stella?"

"Horrible. Dreadful." She agreed. "But what can we do? The best is that we live and lead the Kingdom into a Golden Age. Or try to."

"Good thing Saberhagen wasn't resurrected. There would have been more trouble." Strauss sighed.

"Very stressful." Stella agreed. "And I would say that the years have changed our characters. Can you recall any of your memories from your past lives?"

Strauss shook his head. "Only vague impressions. But I remember, you, Bridget, Morishima and Adelheid. I think Laetitia was there, too."

"… I remember almost everything." Stella admitted quietly. "From our lives together to the part where I lived through the Black Swan."

Strauss started at that. "Everything?"

"Well, the more significant parts of those lives." Stella corrected herself. "But enough to know what was going on."

"It never ended well, did it?" Strauss asked. Stella shook her head.

And for the third time, their conversation was interrupted by a near-silent footstep outside the door. "They're here." Stella said.

The assassins burst into the room, sending knives flying everywhere. They had expected Strauss to be in the room. But they had not expected Stella to be in the room. Strauss did his best to catch all the weapons and sent them back to their owners. Nine bodies dropped to the ground. The assassins were eliminated instead of their target.

"Adelheid, it's safe to come out now." Stella called, sitting up from where she was. The cupboard door burst open and Adelheid fled to the safety of Stella's arms.

"What does GM have to do with this?" Strauss asked, pulling the weapons from the assassins' corpses.

"Well, he has obeyed the nobles' orders and even though your father signed an agreement with him, it is not enough for him and he has planned to kill you after you find out the truth." Stella said. "Even though he loves Kayuki, I think that it would be best to kill him. After all, I bear no affection to him even if he may be my surrogate grandfather."

"If you're sure." Strauss nodded his head.

"It's a good opportunity to test your abilities, don't miss it." Stella told him before she stood up unsteadily. "And in the meantime, I will go with Adelheid to prepare for the journey back."

Strauss left the room silently.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

The next day, the police arrived the manor of GM Gozen because there had been a call from the house from a frantic man who had stated that there were vampires at the house before he was cut off. The police found a blood slaughter at the manor. Everyone was killed. The only thing missing from their bodies were their hearts. Other than that, they were killed by a slit in their throat. The police had reported that there was a serial killer on the loose when they found similar scenes at the houses of the associates of GM Gozen.

But after a month, the strange murders stopped. The police puzzled over the cases and after some time, assumed that the serial killer was either dead because he had been in some kind of fatal accident.


	5. Chapter 5

Akirina: Happy reading! Oh yes, just to clear up something. Stella Hirasaka is an alias, her real name is Kayuki Heizerberg, but she prefers to be known addressed as Yuki. When Yuki becomes Queen, she will still allow other people to call her Stella on account that it was her childhood name.

Chapter 5

"Father, I'm back." Rosered Strauss stepped into his father's study. His eyes flashed red when he saw who was in his father's study. "Hello, Renier… I wasn't expecting to see you here…"

Renier choked upon seeing Rosered. "P-Prince Rosered… It's- It's a surprise to see you here… I thought you were on Earth…?"

"I was." Rosered smiled grimly at him. "Unfortunately, it appears that _someone _appeared at GM Gozen's house and killed everyone in the middle of the night when Adelheid, Kayuki and I had left the house to explore the world outside. Thus, I had to return early."

Gottfried smiled warmly at his son. "It's good to see you, Rosered. I've been feeling lonely without your presence." He sighed audibly at glared at the gaping Renier. "Lord Landior, would you be so kind as to let me have some time with my son…?"

"Of-of course! I was just about to suggest that. Excuse me, Your Majesty!" Renier bowed hastily and left the room quickly.

Gottfried steepled his fingers and leaned his elbows on the table, studying Rosered. "So."

"Father." Rosered bowed his head and settled himself into the chair that Renier had been occupying.

"You found out about everything, then?" Gottfried stated. It was not a question. Rosered nodded his head.

"Why? Why keep the truth from us?" Rosered couldn't help but ask. But Gottfried stopped him by putting a finger to his lips to indicate silence.

"Even walls have ears, Rosered. I thought you would know that." Gottfried murmured. "Come, we will speak in my rooms. Is Kayuki with you?"

"Princess Heizerberg?" Rosered questioned. "Is there something that I ought to know about her?"

Gottfried winced at his son's calm tone. He knew that Rosered was angry about what had happened twelve years ago. "Yes, as you probably know, she is your betrothed."

"Why was I not told about this?" Rosered demanded.

"When Kayuki's parents died, I decided that it would be best for her to start going to Earth to avoid detection from the nobles and to change her name to Stella Hirasaka. I did not want them to know that she was the reincarnation of the Black Swan." Gottfried explained. "That also meant that I had to hide the fact that she was your fiancé from you and her birthrights from her."

"You could have broken the engagement." Rosered said.

"No, I couldn't. It was an agreement between me and Kayuki's father. We signed it with our blood." Gottfried said.

"Blood pact." Rosered breathed. Signing anything with your blood was the most powerful magic you could ever incorporate. It meant that those of your blood had to follow the contract signed and it was unbreakable.

"Yes." Gottfried sighed. "If I had known what would happen, I might not have done it."

"I'm not angry with the engagement." Rosered broke in. "I'm unhappy that you kept it from me, Father."

"I know. I should have told you. But I couldn't. Besides, if they knew that the Black Swan was the princess of the Kingdom, it would have caused trouble." Gottfried admitted.

"And what are they planning now?" Rosered asked as they reached Gottfried's rooms. The two vampires slipped into the room quietly.

"A rebellion, I suspect." Gottfried replied. "They need to be put down soon."

"I'm already preparing for it." Rosered answered as he reached out to turn the lights on. The soft light illuminated the whole of the room and the unmistakable bulge on Gottfried's couch. The two vampires exchanged glances before Gottfried strode forward to pull the blanket down slightly. Then they both laughed at the sight before them. Adelheid and Stella were huddled under the blanket, sleeping.

"I see that you've got everything settled." Gottfried remarked as he walked to occupy the armchair opposite them.

"Most." Rosered agreed before he took the chair opposite his father. "Now, tell me all that you've been hiding from me."

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

"There is a legend that the first-born female of the Heizerbergs would hold the powers of Queen Adelheid." Gottfried told his son later that night as they stood guard over Adelheid and Stella. "And Kayuki happens to be the first-born female _and _the reincarnation of the Black Swan… It makes me wonder what would happen when she comes into her power."

"Come into her power?" Rosered asked. Gottfried looked at him curiously.

"Don't you know? Usually, the powers of noble vampires would awaken when they are fifteen. But for the Heizerberg line, they come into their power when they are twenty." Gottfried said.

Rosered frowned. This was his first time of hearing this exception. "Why isn't it mentioned in the books? I have never read about it…"

"Oh," Gottfried waved a hand. "Some things you have to find out through rumors and gossip, Rosered. This has been going around for quite some time. A month or so after the books were published, I suppose. They probably never got around to updating them."

"Or they wanted to keep the later generations in the dark." Rosered interjected.

"True. They were most likely aiming for that effect." Gottfried agreed.

"Why didn't you order them to change the information?" Rosered asked. "It would be a threat to the Kingdom if they continued such acts to keep the people in the dark and it would work to their benefit."

"Ah, but when it is revealed that they were trying to keep information from the people, they won't be happy either. This would make the people lose their support in them." Gottfried pointed out.

"And rebellions?" Rosered asked sharply. "I heard that the nobles are going to rebel tonight."

"That quickly?" Gottfried murmured to himself before he spoke to Rosered. "Your contacts are very efficient."

"Bridget and Morishima _are _the best." Rosered agreed. "But that's not the issue right now. Why are they rebelling?"

"Their contacts on Earth have told them about what has happened and this is their last bid for 'freedom'." Gottfried snorted. "I see it more as an attempt for tyrannical ruling."

"And who's to be their new King?" Rosered asked curiously.

"Queen." Gottfried corrected him. "They were planning to make Stella their queen and control her from behind the curtain. But apparently, the hypnosis they tried on her wasn't so successful after all."

"I'd agree with that." Rosered nodded his head. "Was Renier in on this?"

"No. He remains neutral." Gottfried replied.

Rosered pondered over what had been revealed to him before he asked, "And how do you know all this?"

Gottfried smiled a bloodthirsty smile. "You'll be surprised at how much you'll get when you torture one of them with the whip."

Rosered raised a brow. "Who?"

"Lord Umber. He's dead. The official reason is that he died because he went into the sun." Gottfried answered. "I see that his heir is not one of the anti-Strauss supporters."

Rosered smiled wryly. "I see. So there was an ulterior motive after all."

"When is there not one?" Gottfried laughed softly. "I _always _have an ulterior motive. But I can resort to family meddling after you take up the throne."

"Something that will only happen in a hundred years." Rosered answered. "I'm not going to be King at twenty-two. I'd rather wait until I were a thousand years old."

Gottfried sighed. "You hurt me, son."

"It's your problem."

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"Lady Irving?" The messenger asked nervously. Bridget turned her attention to the messenger at the door.

"Yes?"

"There's a message from the King."

Bridget's eyes sharpened and she held her hand out for the letter. The messenger darted forward to place the letter on her hand before he bowed and disappeared. Bridget frowned at the strange behavior that he was exhibiting. Usually, male messengers lingered behind a little, hoping to get more attention from her. The messenger's behavior only convinced her that he knew something was about to happen.

"What does the King say?" Morishima asked from his chair. He was going through the financial records of the Morishima family as he was the Lord and only heir to it. If Morishima did not marry and produce children, his line would die out.

Bridget sliced the letter open and studied the contents of the note, her eyes widening. "Strauss has come back." She told him.

"What?" Morishima looked up sharply. He walked over to Bridget's side and she showed him the letter. "What led to this sudden turn in events?" Morishima muttered as he read the note quickly.

"Assassination." Bridget replied. "And there's going to be a rebellion. We need to head to the King's quarters to talk to Strauss."

"Then what are we doing?" Morishima pocketed the letter and gathered all the folders on the coffee table. "Let's go."

STYUSTYUSTYU

"Have you got all the files prepared yet?" Rosered asked Morishima. "I expect that there will be a massacre later tonight."

"Causes of death—all settled." Morishima replied. "I have concrete evidence here that all of them are involved—a witness and they even had a scribe to record everything down." Morishima held up a stack of papers. "Really foolish of them."

"Idiots will be idiots." Bridget commented. "I gathered a few of the soldiers and other nobles who were on our side and I have a small army waiting for our command."

"Excellent." Gottfried said. "Now all we need to do now is wait."

"In the meantime, we could probably carry out a small reunion." A voice interrupted their discussion and Bridget and Morishima whirled around at the familiar voice.

"Stella!"

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"I hear that they've gotten the girl." Carius uttered in a low tone to the other nobles. "Our future Queen is with them. What are we going to do?"

"Shut your sniveling act up, Carius." Heidron stared at the old noble in utter disgust. "We'll just have to execute the plan tonight, then."

"Reawakening the Black Swan?" Carius whimpered. "I don't want to be killed…"

"You fool. The Black Swan will only go after Akabara. What harm can it do to us?" Heidron laughed sinisterly. "I look forward to seeing the throne occupied by our new Queen…"


	6. Chapter 6

Akirina: Ok, this is the last chapter...

Chapter 6

"Keep the rest of the vampires occupied and get to the one with pink hair. You must grab her before the others can stop you, understand?" Heidron instructed the young vampire. He was only fifteen, but he was strong and fast. Fast enough to get their future Queen out before the others could catch him.

"Yes, my Lord." He nodded his head enthusiastically and Heidron gestured to the others. "Come on."

The forces entered King Gottfried's quarters without a knock and the elegant doors were blasted into pieces by the leading vampires. The young vampire darted in after them. Heidron rubbed his hands together, surveying the scene when the attacking forces halted.

"What are you doing? Get rid of them quickly!" Heidron yelled, thinking that something had gone wrong.

The vampires turned to face him. "But my Lord, there is no one in there."

Heidron glanced into the room and let out a scream of frustration. They were not there.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"Hurry," Rosered urged Stella and Adelheid along the secret passage. "We need to get to the throne room as soon as possible."

"Why did we have to go there using this way?" Adelheid whispered back, looking unhappy.

"Because Stella hasn't come into her powers and she can't fly yet. Besides, Adelheid, you have nullifying powers, so you'd probably cancel out any attempts to detect us." Strauss replied.

"Fine." Adelheid huffed, although she sounded secretly delighted at the prospect of helping out.

"Stella, if you feel any sense of discomfort, tell me, alright?" Strauss said.

"I will." Stella promised. "But why would I feel uncomfortable?"

Strauss looked slightly worried in the light illuminated by the small lantern. "Because tomorrow's your twentieth birthday."

"And?" Stella asked, confused.

"Every member of the Heizerberg family comes into their powers only at the age of twenty at the stroke of midnight." Strauss told her quietly.

"Oh." Stella said, understanding. "So that's why I didn't come into my power when I was on Earth."

"I'd like to see what kind of powers you have, Stella!" Aldeheid squealed excitedly, her voice slightly muffled as she bumped into Stella. "I'd guess that it's healing since you don't like violence!"

"Maybe." Stella agreed before she started to move down the passage. "We'll just have to see. It's only an hour and thirty minutes to midnight."

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

"Where could they be?" Heidron fumed as he paced inside the council room. The other nobles watched their leader warily, not daring to comment upon the situation.

"My Lord!" A general stood at attention at the doorway. "The King has sent a message to you."

"What?" Heidron exclaimed and snatched the missive from him. His face paled as he read the missive and he turned to Carius with a furious look. "You betrayed me!"

Carius blanched. "H-how can you accuse me of that?" he cried, tensing under the accusing glares from the other lords. The soldiers started to move towards him.

"The King wrote about it in his missive." Heidron stated coldly, walking closer to Carius. "Now, before I kill you… Isn't there something you should be telling me?"

STYUSTYUSTYUSTYU

Strauss helped Stella and Aldeheid out of the passage carefully, glancing around him to check for any signs of guards.

"It seems that everyone has gathered in the throne room." Stella murmured, keeping her voice low. "We should be able to sneak out before they catch us."

"I hope so." Strauss murmured back. "Something doesn't feel right. The halls are empty. But aren't there supposed to be soldiers rushing along the corridors, searching for you?"

Stella's eyes widened. "It's a trap. We have to return to the secret passage. _Now._"

Strauss started to turn back and reach out for the secret panel when a smooth voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Well, well… Look what we have here." Strauss turned to the speaker and scowled when he saw who it was.

"Uncle Heidron. It's a surprise to see you here." Strauss stated coldly. He had known that his uncle was the leader of the group of nobles that had sought to overthrow the King.

"My sister's son," Heidron gasped dramatically. "You shouldn't be here." Then he smirked and dropped his dramatic act. "I'm not surprised to see you here, Rosered. But I am sad to say that you will have to be gone by the time Queen Heizerberg takes the throne."

"Why are you doing this?" Strauss stalled, pushing Adelheid and Stella behind him.

"Why?" Heidron laughed. "For power, of course. Gottfried, that fool cannot hold the throne. He is too weak to head on to conquer Earth. Which is what I will be doing when Queen Heizerberg is crowned. I will being an army to Earth and proceed with world domination."

"I hope you aren't putting too much into that plan because it wouldn't work." Strauss told him bluntly. "As a matter of fact, you will be killed before you do it. You should just give up now, Uncle. Father will be sad if he has to kill you."

Heidron's face twisted with anger. "What would he know of sadness? He didn't even cry when Riselle died!"

"My mother? What does she have to do with this?" Strauss asked in surprise.

"Everything!" Heidron snarled. "At first, Carius had summoned Akabara's spirit. We didn't really plan to do anything, but we wanted to let the King have someone who could advise him in the state matters. After a long time, Akabara had failed to turn up and we gave up on the idea, and went on with our lives. Then you were born. Riselle had been the perfect baby sister. But with you, she suddenly became weaker and started to fade away. And when you were one year of age, she died. Gottfried didn't even shed a tear at her Death day! That bastard. He only broke down when your stepmother died."

"So that's the reason why you want to kill my father and me?" Strauss asked.

"At first I thought I could deal with the both of you. But I came to realize that the two of you were simply too powerful when I watched one of your dueling sessions with Gottfried. And then I heard that the Heizerbergs had a child and that she was the reincarnation of the Black Swan from Carius. He could recognize the souls that had been reincarnated because he was the one who carried out the ritual. I decided to make use of her and I ordered Carius to carry out all my orders. He was useful until the end." Heidrion sneered. "But I never expected him to betray me. A pity, I was thinking of making him Lord Chamberlain."

"Your plan would have failed, anyway." Strauss retorted.

"So you say." Heidrion lunged towards them and Strauss was quick to engage him in a fight. The metallic clang of swords sounded in the empty hallway, echoing down the corridors. Heidrion sneered at Strauss.

"I hope you've got your last wishes written out, Strauss." He said as he tried to jab Strauss in the side. Strauss parried smoothly and said, "The only person who is dying today is you, Heidrion. Your lust for revenge and power is threatening the Kingdom and you have committed treason because you didn't see the King cry for your sister's death."

"It's not that simple as you make it out to be!" Heidrion roared, slashing at Strauss wildly, his eyes filled with hatred.

"I find you disgusting, Heidrion." Strauss continued. "How do you know whether my father grieved for my mother? You never heard him cry in his quarters when he thought no one was around. He grieved over mother's death even though he loved my stepmother. But the only person he truly loved was Riselle von Riele."

"You're lying!" Heidrion gasped.

"I'm not." Strauss spoke and quickly darted forward to slip his sword under Heidrion's guard and stab his uncle in the chest, straight through the heart. Heidrion's eyes widened and he smiled at Strauss as he started to sink to the floor.

"Riselle…" he murmured. Then a pile of dust was what was left of him.

Strauss looked at the pile of blue dust before he turned away. It was only then that he realized that Adelheid and Stella were missing.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

The first thing that Stella was aware of was the chanting. The ominous chanting of voices that was familiar to her. She recognized one of the voices as Reiner's, the noble that she made friends with when she was younger. But what was he doing here? Hadn't Strauss told her that he was neutral in this rebellion?

"Black Swan! Answer to our calls!"

Stella thought that they were idiots. There was no Black Swan in this age. It was only a curse that had existed when Saberhagen had used two souls as a catalyst. And they did not have any vampire sacrifices, so it was unlikely that their summons would work. Besides, a curse that had ended ages ago would not work again at the whim of spoilt nobles.

"Black Swan! Wake up!"

Or was it? Stella knew that the only thing that the Black Swan would respond to was memories of the past and a certain pendant that Akabara had given to Stella Heizerberg. But there was no Stella Heizerberg now, only Kayuki Heizerberg.

"Black Swan!" Their cries were getting louder. Stella was getting kind of annoyed.

Then there was a familiar ringing of a grandfather clock and Stella realized it was midnight. Her twentieth birthday. And then she realized that something was wrong.

"Get away from me!" She screamed, hoping that the nobles would take her advice and get themselves out of the room. Her powers were finally awakening and it was dangerous for any vampire to be with her when her powers awakened.

Unfortunately, the foolish nobles took this as a sign that the Black Swan was reawakening and they hurried up, using animal sacrifices as offerings. Stella was sick of them. She heard an exclamation of 'Renier!' and the sound of the doors slamming close as someone left the room. She hoped that Renier was safe.

And then one of the nobles used their powers to try and drag the 'Black Swan' from Stella.

Everything was enveloped in white.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"Lady Irving!" Renier stumbled into the throne room with Adelheid in his arms. "They're trying to summon the Black Swan!"

"What?" Rosered jumped up. "Take me to them now!"

"It's too late, Rosered." Gottfried sighed. "We'll have to wait until everything is over before we can even approach the scene."

"I'd give it at least two hours to settle down." Morishima estimated. "By then, the news would have spread among the people and it would be safe to collect Princess Heizerberg from the room."

"But—"

"Calm down, Rosered. The Princess can defend herself." Gottfried grinned at his son's reaction. "Got a crush on her, don't you?"

Rosered blushed slightly in response. Bridget snorted. "He's had one ever since we were young, sir."

"Really? Interesting." Gottfried studied his son. "It's probably an added bonus to the marriage."

"Marriage?" Rosered asked.

"Of course. You're going to have to be married at the end of the year." Gottfried stated. "Bridget, I want you and several other ladies in charge of the arrangements."

"I hear and obey, my Lord." Bridget bowed, shooting Rosered an evil smirk. Rosered groaned.

Their conversation was cut off by a loud rumbling coming the west side of the castle and everyone grabbed on to something to prevent themselves from falling.

"It's midnight!" Morishima shouted over the loud rumbling and shattering of the objects. And then, as if those words were some sort of order, the rumbling stopped and everyone saw a brilliant flash of white light with a black silhouette of a swan through the west window of the throne room.

"The last Heizerberg has finally come into her power." Gottfried sighed as he stood up. "Send someone to scout the corridors along the west wing and capture anyone who is there."

"At least she didn't break anything." Bridget said as she stood up shakily.

"Huh." Morishima steadied Bridget. "I've seen less volatile awakenings. This is probably the most powerful one. Besides the Prince's." he cast a look at Rosered. Rosered flushed, remembering his disastrous fifteen birthday.

"I think we all remember that." Gottfried rolled his eyes. "Heavens help us. Rosered, you'd better prepare yourself for the throne because I don't think I can hold it much longer. I'll give you another fifty years of freedom."

Rosered groaned. "You're not serious?"

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

"And I pronounce the both of you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride." The crowd went wild as they watched Crown Prince Rosered Strauss kiss Princess Kayuki Heizerberg.

The people of the Night Kingdom had accepted the news about the treason fairly well and they were very supportive of the royal couple.

Rosered and Yuki smiled at the people gathered there, as well as their childhood friends. It was good to be back among their people.


	7. Epilogue

Akirina: And it's done! Thank you for your support!

Chapter 7

Many years later…

"Stella! Tell Morishima to stop bullying Renier!" Adelheid cried as she pushed open the doors that led to the throne room where King Rosered and Queen Kayuki were holding a court session.

Strauss sighed at the intrusion as the newly elected nobles chuckled softly amongst themselves at this daily occurrence. Kayuki rose to her feet and excused herself from the room before she led Adelheid out of the room.

"What happened again, Adelheid?" Yuki asked in amusement, smiling at the upset look on Adelheid's face.

"Morishima threatened to kill Renier when he proposed to me!" Adelheid cried in distress. "You've got to stop Morishima, Stella! He'll murder Renier and I don't want to be a widow!"

Yuki chuckled. "Morishima wasn't serious about killing Renier, Adelheid. But he would hurt Renier if he didn't take care of you properly." She tried to explain.

"No! You didn't hear him." Adelheid said frantically, her wide blue eyes staring at Yuki in a panic. "His exact words when Renier proposed to me were: I'm going to kill you. And he drew his sword!"

Yuki looked quite worried for a moment. "Well…"

"You have to stop them, Stella!" Adelheid pleaded and Stella gave in. "I'll see what I can do." She sighed to Adelheid and they set off in search of Morishima and Renier.

T^FT^FT^FT^FT^F

By some miracle, Yuki managed to find Morishima just before he slaughtered Renier and gave him a lecture.

And by the end of the month, Yuki and Bridget were planning for Adelheid's wedding. Bridget still couldn't believe that her little sister, younger than her by four years would be marrying in a few days—and while Bridget was dating Morishima, they hadn't even got to the discussion about commitment!

"I still can't believe that Adelheid was dating Renier from ten years ago!" Bridget told Yuki. "I didn't even know that she was seeing him!"

"Don't worry, Bridget. Adelheid just knows how to keep secrets. That's all." Yuki reassured the frantic sister.

"It's not ok! Have you even heard what Morishima is talking about? He's furious with Renier and Adelheid from keeping something like this from him. He treats Adelheid like a younger sister and you know that he's protective about her!" Bridget cried.

"It'll resolve itself, Bridget, don't worry." Yuki tried again and Bridget sighed in frustration.

"I'll go find Laetitia to talk to." She slumped out of the room and Yuki laughed at her actions. They were worrying too much, Yuki thought. It was clear that Adelheid was growing up and she did not need any defending against any untoward attention the males were giving her because she had Renier was with her.

Having being good friends with Renier since young, she knew that he would prove a good husband to Adelheid. Now, if only Morishima and Bridget would agree…

T^FT^FT^FT^F

"Stella, I want you to meet Renka Landior, Renier's younger brother." Strauss told his wife as she entered his study.

Yuki studied the young vampire in front of her and smiled, offering her hand to him. Renka looked surprised for a moment before he shook hands with her and smiled hesitantly. Yuki thought he looked just like Renier with his red hair and brown eyes.

"Are you here to settle the marriage matters between Adelheid and your brother?" Yuki asked hopefully, forgoing all etiquette.

Renka nodded slowly. Yuki sighed in relief.

"Thank God! They're starting to contest Renier now and the poor man's nearly wet his pants!" Yuki gushed. Then stopped. "Sorry, it's an old habit."

Renka laughed long and hard at what she said and Yuki exchanged confused glances with her husband. When Renka could finally calm down he told her, "Actually, I'm here to stop my brother from getting too carried away with that contest! Renier is—"

A loud scream bought Yuki and Rosered hurrying to look out of the window to see what had happened. They saw Morishima huddling behind Bridget in his boxers while Renier stood in front of Adelheid. He was wielding a pair of swords. Adelheid clapped merrily, looking delighted.

Renka sighed. "That's what I was talking about." Then he threw open the window and yelled down to Renier, "Brother, if you continue to scare them, I'm going to get you back for that!"

Renier stopped advancing towards Morishima and looked at Renka in surprise. In a few moments, the two brothers were greeting each other and talking about what had occurred.

Yuki and Strauss exchanged looks again before they burst into laughter. It seemed as if life wasn't going to be that boring after all.

"Stella, we're going to Bridget's rooms to discuss the marriage stuff." Adelheid called up to the two. "We'll see you there, alright?"

Yuki waved a hand to them, smiling and she slipped her hand into Strauss's open one, tugging him out of the room. He smiled at her as they proceeded to walk down the hallway to Bridget's quarters.

The Night Kingdom was faring well in Strauss's hands and they had their friends with them. With their support, Strauss and Kayuki were leading the Night Kingdom into a bright future.


End file.
